Sheldrick Wildlife Trust · Kenya
Living Thread · Guided Safaris® Research Lab
A PrivateMorning
An orphaned Elephant’s day begins in the dark, with a Keeper on the bunk beside it. This is one morning with the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, hour by hour, from the night feeds to the mud bath.
The Nairobi Nursery
Before the light
Each infant sleeps in its own stable, with a Keeper on a bunk beside it. The night feeds come from that Keeper, and mixing the milk is a 24-hour job the Keepers share between them.
The Keepers rotate, so that no orphan grows too attached to one person. A rule that has been held since the 1970s.
Bush
School
The day starts with two bottles of the fortified milk formula Daphne Sheldrick developed, adjusted to each calf’s age and needs. Older infants feed every three hours and newborns on demand.
In Tsavo the same hour plays out at the stockades of the reintegration units. The orphans come out of their night quarters, take their morning bottles, mingle outside and head into the bush with their Keepers for the day.
Nairobi National Park
Bush school
By day the herd roams the park on what the Trust calls bush school, with blankets against the cold, sunscreen on their ears and umbrellas in the rain. A feed in the forest comes at 9.
Older females emerge as mini matriarchs and mother the younger orphans.
The Keepers’ Diaries
Photo Diary
Since 2001 the Keepers have recorded the orphans’ days with a camera, a notebook and a pen, and every diary entry is theirs. The monthly update has gone out to foster parents on the 15th of every month since.
All imagery courtesy of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust © All rights reserved
The Nursery’s midday feed
The mud bath
At 11 the herd runs in for milk, then wallows, plays and dust-bathes while a senior Keeper tells each orphan’s story.
Every orphan in the Trust’s care will ultimately return to the wild, so contact with people is kept to a minimum. Whoever is watching, only Keepers feed and touch them.
Into the wild
The return
Around the age of 3, orphans move from the Nursery to a reintegration unit, always alongside friends. The Keepers step back, ex-orphans and wild Elephants take over as mentors, and the journey can take up to 10 years, at a pace each orphan sets.
Most orphans keep visiting throughout their wild lives, and mothers bring their newborns home. On October 2, 2026, Chaimu, rescued at 11 months in 2009, brought her second calf, Comet, to the Keepers who raised her.
Donors support all the orphans at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, not just the one adopted: A sponsorship supports the program in so many meaningful ways, including the purchase of wildlife rescue flights, restocking the milk formula, Keepers’ salaries, ranger patrols and the ongoing protection of the wilderness the orphans go back to.
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust · Nairobi
Private Donor
On your Guided Safaris® journey, a Private Donor visit takes you behind the scenes in Nairobi. Meet the orphans up close, hear their stories from the Keepers and adopt an animal to support its journey back to the wild.
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Your journey
Request the visit as we plan your journey through Kenya. We arrange it with the Trust and build your time in Nairobi around it.
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Your visit
The program hosts you exclusively, behind the scenes at the Nairobi Nursery. The Keepers introduce each orphan and tell its story, and some may come over to greet you.
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Your adoption
Adopt an orphan during the visit. Upon your return home, you receive a Personalized Adoption Certificate and monthly updates directly from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Travel with the workSignature Guided Safaris® Journeys
Private Kenya Safari
Kenya’s Elephant country in one exclusive itinerary, from Segera to Private Mara, with a private donor Sheldrick visit, by request.
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Private Africa Safari
From Gorillas to the Big Game country of Segera, Private Mara and Mombo, on an exclusive Private Jet Safari.
View journeyThe partnersOn the ground
- Sheldrick Wildlife TrustNairobi · Tsavo
- Big Life FoundationAmboseli
- Amboseli Trust for ElephantsAmboseli
- Kenya Wildlife ServiceKenya
- Great Plains FoundationChyulu Hills
Working with travel partners and conservation projects in the field, the Guided Safaris® research lab teams share new ideas from across Africa that highlight key conservation efforts on ground. Staying in close contact throughout this supplier chain ensures that the whole network shares a responsible and innovative approach.
Next · Program III
Big Cat
The Great Plains Foundation’s Big Cats Initiative secures land for Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs beyond Africa’s national parks.
Enter the program
A Living Thread
Conservation at the heart of every journey
Over 30 years in Private African journeys.
Supporting key conservation initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa, Guided Safaris® journeys feature the continent’s finest private game reserves and award-winning eco-luxury camps and lodges that safeguard endangered wildlife through low-impact, sustainable travel.
We are honored to share our stories, safari craftsmanship and commitment to the African wilderness with you.
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